Quirkless
by ObsessionIsMyOppression
Summary: *SPOILERS FOR ANIME ONLY VIEWERS* Izuku gets hit by a quirk erasure bullet and loses One for All. He deals with being quirkless again, but this time he has friends to help him along the path. The only question is whether or not he'll let them.
1. Chapter 1

If he had just been faster. Just a millisecond faster, and it wouldn't have happened. He would've been fine. He would've been sitting in the hospital listening to Recovery Girl chastising him about being more careful with his body.

But he wasn't fast enough. Now he was sitting on his bed; all of the All Might merchandise that had littered his walls piled in his closet. He didn't deserve to look at All Might after losing One for All. He let All Might down, big time.

Izuku stared numbly at his hand as he traced the scars littering it with his fingers. It was all that he had left now. He didn't feel the buzz of energy that One for All gave him underneath his skin. He didn't feel anything. It felt so...so empty. So much like before.

"Why?" Izuku whispered hoarsely. "Why did this have to happen?"

He curled in on himself on his empty bed mattress as he raked his hands through his green curls.

Worthless. Stupid. Useless. All the taunts from his middle school days came rushing back.

"It isn't fair."

Izuku let out a strangled sob.

"It isn't fair!" He shouted as he grabbed his notebook that happened to be within his reach and threw it.

It smashed into the wall, and papers flew out of the worn book as Izuku watched in silence. One particular paper landed next to the edge of his bed as the rest fluttered down to the carpeted floor.

Izuku sighed and picked it up as he wiped the tears from his face. His hands gripped the paper tightly as he skimmed over whatever it said. He stared at it for a minute before he crushed it in his hands and threw it in the trash.

Izuku slowly made his way off his bed and grabbed the rest of the papers without looking at them, discarding them in the trash as well. He was about to pick up the last remains of his worn notebook before he heard a knock on his door. He quickly threw the book underneath his bed before he jumped on the mattress and shoved his face into his pillow, not wanting to be seen with huge tear stains on his face.

"Yes?" He asked, voice muffled by the pillow.

"H-hey, Deku! It's me, Uraraka. Can I come in, please?"

A pause.

"Sure."

Izuku lifted his head out his pillow, tear stains not as noticeable, and watched as the door opened to reveal Uraraka holding a plate of cookies. As she scanned his dark and empty room, Izuku could see the sadness seeping into her usually joyful expression. He wanted to make her feel better, but he just couldn't. How was he supposed to make her happy if he couldn't even make himself feel anything but guilt?

Uraraka jumped when she noticed Izuku watching her.

"W-well, I was just wondering if you wanted to talk." She stammered out, not noticing that she had accidentally sent some cookies flying through the air with her quirk.

"Uh, Uraraka—" Izuku said softly, pointing at the floating cookies.

"Oh, stupid me! I should really pay more attention to my hands!" She muttered out as she jumped around the room, tapping every cookie she could reach, sending them tumbling back towards the floor.

Izuku watched silently as Uraraka scrambled to catch the falling cookies on her plate. He quirked a small smile when a cookie fell onto her head.

"Well, anyways! Would you like a cookie?" Uraraka asked as she held out the almost empty plate, oblivious to the cookie balancing on her head.

"Yeah, I'll have...that one." Izuku said, pointing to the cookie on her head, chuckling a little bit when her face twisted into a confused expression.

"Huh? There's no cookie—" Uraraka said, turning her head to look up.

The cookie tumbled off her head and Izuku jumped off his bed, hands outstretched to catch the cookie before it hit the floor. He watched in horror as it landed on the ground and broke in half.

Izuku stared at it numbly. He couldn't even save a cookie. He really was useless now.

"H-hey Deku, it's just one cookie. We have plenty more to choose from!" Uraraka chirped enthusiastically, noticing the change in his demeanor.

Izuku just continued to stare at the broken treat.

Worthless. Stupid. Useless.

"Hey. Izuku." Uraraka said softly.

He turned his dull gaze towards her when she used his first name.

"It's alright. Look at all the cookies I dropped!" She laughed awkwardly as she gestured to the multiple cookies littering the floor.

"Yeah..." Izuku trailed off, shaking his head.

Stupid. He was stupid to get so emotional over a cookie.

"Thanks, Uraraka." Izuku said, turning to look at her.

He wasn't prepared when she wrapped her arms around him and squeezed, hard. It felt so nice, to know that someone cared.

"Urara—"

"If you ever want to talk about it, I'll listen." She paused, obviously thinking through something. "I just wanted to let you know that."

And that was when Izuku hugged her back, gasping as tears streamed down his face. He felt Uraraka rub his back in soothing circles as he continued to sob.

"It's just so...so hard." He managed to choke out when he finally calmed down. "I just don't want it to be like—"

Izuku stopped abruptly. Nobody knew that he was originally quirkless, except for Bakugou. And if he told Uraraka that he was, she'd ask how he'd got his quirk and then he'd let down All Might even more than he already had.

"Like?" Uraraka asked softly, and Izuku felt the rubbing on his back stop.

"Like I never existed." Izuku mumbled out, pulling away from their embrace as the tears on his face dried.

"Why would you think that?" Uraraka asked, sadness dripping into her voice as she looked at him.

"Let's just say that I didn't have the best days in middle school."

"Oh..."

"Yeah." He smiled bitterly.

"I'm sor—" Uraraka started before being cut off.

"Don't! You didn't do anything wrong. Besides, that's in the past now."

"But you don't seem to be over it yet."

Izuku paused for a moment, rubbing the snot starting to drip from his nose on his sweater sleeve.

"Huh. I guess I'm not, am I?" He sniffled. "Well, that's something to work on then."

"Still looking for ways to improve, I see." Uraraka chuckled softly.

"What can I say?" Izuku shrugged sheepishly.

"That's the Deku I know!"

"Huh?"

"O-oh, well, it's just, when I heard what happened at the whole quirk erasure bullet incident, I wanted to see how you were doing, so I came right here, and when I opened the door, you just looked so sad. So...broken. I was scared that you wouldn't be the same." Uraraka rambled on. "But, obviously, you are still the same Deku I know!"

Oh. Did he really look that demoralized? He never realized. It dawned on him after hearing Uraraka's ramble that he was throwing himself a pity party and having her waste her time.

"Oh, I'm glad." He said with a strained smile.

He had to think of a way to get Uraraka to leave. She probably had much better things to do than talk with him. The last thing Izuku wanted to be right now was a burden.

"Uh, I'm going to go walk around outside a bit. Stretch my legs." The lie felt dirty on his tongue, and he wanted to spit it out as soon as possible.

Uraraka, who had gone to pick up the cookies strewn across the floor, perked up.

"Oh, would you like me—"

"I'd rather go alone."

"Oh, okay. I understand." Uraraka replied, somewhat dejectedly.

"Thanks." Izuku whispered.

Uraraka finished picking up the cookies and opened the door.

"See you around later?" She asked, turning her gaze to look at him.

"Yeah. Maybe."

And with that, Uraraka walked out into the hallway, closing the door behind her with a resounding thunk.

Izuku sighed and sat down on his bed, holding his head in his hands.

"What is wrong with me?" He whispered to no one.

He was useless enough as it was, loosing One for All so easily, but now he was worrying Uraraka? And he was sure that she had probably talked to Iida and made him stress for no reason too.

"Why can't I do anything right?"

It was funny, actually, how much loosing his quirk devastated him. Well, to be totally honest, it wasn't even his quirk to begin with! He had no right to be gallivanting around with it, let alone lose it!

Izuku broke out into hysterical laughter as he looked at his scarred fingers. He deserved those scars; what would he expect from using a quirk that wasn't his?

The thought quickly stopped Izuku's laughing and he furrowed his brow.

He thought back to the day he met All Might. What did he even do to earn his quirk? He threw a backpack. That was all he did. Plus, he was the reason the villain had gotten away in the first place, wasting All Might's precious time and pestering him with stupid questions.

Izuku groaned, clutching his sweater in a fist as he continued his downward spiral.

He had put Bakugou in danger because of his antics and all he did was throw a backpack. No wonder Bakugou hated him.

What was going through All Might's head when he decided to give up his quirk to some little, bothersome kid? Izuku wouldn't usually question All Might's judgement, but he couldn't fathom his reasoning. It didn't make sense, and Izuku would have rushed to ask him if he wasn't so terrified of coming into contact with the hero.

Izuku flopped backwards and stared at his ceiling, breathing deeply.

"What am I going to do now?" He asked himself after a while.

It was a loaded question that he'd rather not answer, but he knew he had to face it sometime. Since he didn't have a quirk, he couldn't partake in many of the aspects of class in the hero course. Not that he deserved to be in the hero course to begin with.

"Why, why..."

He didn't even know what he was asking anymore. Why did anything happen to him? Why didn't he remain quirkless in the first place? Why?

Izuku couldn't answer any of his questions, but he wasn't sure if he even wanted to know.

~o0o~

As Uraraka sat in the lobby of the dorms, she pondered over why Izuku had suddenly decided to go on a walk. Alone. Izuku wasn't one to openly reject someone, especially if it was for something as small as a walk.

It wasn't anything she had said, right? She couldn't think of anything that she had done to upset him. But she knew that something happened. Because he was starting to seem more like himself and then he just suddenly reverted back to how she had found him when she first stepped into his dark room.

Uraraka tugged at her hair as she bit her lip.

It was something she did, wasn't it? That was the only explanation. She had went in to cheer him up and ended up leaving him no better than how she found him. She was such a horrible friend.

Uraraka sighed and hid her face in her hands, slouching forwards on the couch.

"Hello, Uraraka!"

She pulled her face out of her hands and looked up to see Iida standing before her, a concerned frown gracing his features.

"How did it go with Midoriya?" He asked, sitting down next to her.

Uraraka took a shaky breath, blowing her bangs out of her eyes.

"It was going well, but then I must've done something and now...now he's lying to me!" She cried out, tears forming in her eyes.

"What?" Iida demanded. "When would Midoriya ever lie?"

"He said he was going t-to go on a walk, and I've been waiting here to see if he was coming down! B-but he never showed up!" Uraraka blubbered as tears rushed down her face.

"He could've—"

"No!" She cut him off. "This is the only way out! I must've done something to upset him! That's the only reason I can think of!"

"You don't know that for sure, Uraraka!" Iida yelled at an attempt to console the sobbing girl next to him.

It worked, surprisingly.

Uraraka's sobbing grew softer as she watched Iida bend down and pick something up. She didn't know what; she could barely see from the tears blurring her vision.

But when Iida straightened up and offered her a chocolate chip cookie on a eerily familiar plate, her tears came back full force.

"What? What did I do!" Iida cried out, clearly out of his element.

Uraraka just shook her head as she continued bawling. She looked at her failed attempt to cheer up Izuku and felt a wave of sadness pass over her. What had she done to make it all go south?

"Hey. O-ocha...Uraraka. I doubt you did anything to make Midoriya lie. He's doing it for personal reasons, not because of you." Iida managed to stutter out.

Uraraka's tears slowly came to a stop and she sniffled, looking up at him.

"You think?" She asked in a small voice.

Iida hesitated before saying, "Definitely."

"Oh...I guess I just thought..." Uraraka trailed off, giving him a watery smile.

"It's not your fault."

It's not your fault. It's not your fault. It's not your fault. The words echoed in her skull and warmed her whole body. She had just assumed that it was something she had done, but if Iida, who looked at logic and cold hard facts, not at emotions, said that it wasn't her fault, she believed him.

"Thanks, Iida." She whispered as she crushed the bespectacled boy in a hug.

Iida let out a noise of surprise before relaxing into the embrace. Well, as much as he could anyways.

"It's no problem." He replied softly, patting her back.

They sat like that for a while, just the two of them together in a comfortable silence, before they both decided to call it a night.

~o0o~

Iida stared silently at his ceiling as he laid in his bed. He found it unusually hard to fall asleep tonight as he looked around at his blurry surroundings brought on by his lack of glasses.

He rubbed his face with his hand before sighing.

If what Uraraka said was true, then there was definitely something wrong with Izuku. Besides the absence of his quirk. Iida had known the boy long enough to know that he was a very candid person. There was no way he would lie for no reason. And that's the reason why Iida was worried. Why would he lie?

Well, if he was going to speak of lying, he was no saint either. He had told a tiny fib to Uraraka. He had said that she definitely had not done anything wrong. But how was he supposed to know? Exactly. He couldn't. But she had looked so impossibly sad that he couldn't help it. He let his emotions rule his actions over sound logic.

But Uraraka had looked so happy after he told her that, so he wasn't going to say anything. Besides, he doubted that she did anything to upset Izuku to that extent anyways.

Iida blinked and pushed his hand into his usually neat hair, which was now ruffled this way and that from the gesture.

What was Izuku going to do now? He didn't have a quirk; how was he supposed to participate in class now? They...wouldn't transfer him, would they?

Iida pushed his hands through his hair even more.

They couldn't! Izuku was the first kid to stick with him and be his friend no matter how much he acted like...a "teacher's pet". That's what his old classmates in middle school called him.

Izuku had seen past all that and stuck with him through thick and thin. Even during that time with Stain where he wasn't thinking the clearest. There was no way that they could transfer Izuku! He was the one who probably cared most about being a hero, seeing as he used his bone-breaking quirk without hesitation.

They couldn't just move him so easily! Iida wouldn't let them. He would fight and fight no matter how hard to keep his friend in his class, even if it meant bending the rules a bit.

The idea of going against the rules left a bitter taste in his mouth, but Iida stood his ground. Izuku probably had much more on his mind than worries about rules.

Iida nodded his head fervently in the darkness of his room. He was going to make sure that Izuku got to stay in Class 1-A. It was the least he could do, and his friend already had to deal with being quirkless, let alone being kicked out of class!

"Don't you worry about a thing, Midoriya..." He mumbled as he fell asleep with plans for the next day brewing in his head.

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I'd just like to thank you for taking the time to read my story, and I hoped you enjoyed it. I already have all the rough drafts typed out, so I promise that this fic will be finished! Again, thanks for stopping by!


	2. Chapter 2

Izuku woke up the next day, which happened to be a Monday, with a plugged up nose. It wasn't surprising, seeing as he had cried so much the previous day, but it still annoyed him as slowly put on his school uniform.

He shuffled out of his room, sniffling as he tried to dislodge the drainage clogging his sinuses. Needless to say, it didn't work, and he sighed softly under his breath before closing his door.

What was he going to do? There was no way he was going to be able to participate in any of class. If he remembered correctly, they were doing mock battles. It's not like he could go out there without a quirk and fight.

As Izuku shuffled down the hall and into the main room, he spotted an abandoned plate of cookies sitting on the couch.

Oh. That's right. Uraraka came with them yesterday.

And then everything came rushing back to him without any remorse. The cookies. Uraraka. His pity party. Lying. Everything.

Izuku's mind latched onto the pity party part and wouldn't let go. That's right, he couldn't just shuffle into class looking like whatever he was right now. Everybody would know that something was wrong. And Izuku didn't want to burden anyone else.

So, with that in mind, he made sure to walk with a spring in his step as he made his way back to his room. As he was, he caught his reflection in a window he passed by.

He looked horrible. And that was being nice. His unruly green hair was tangled and matted, and not in a cute way. His uniform was wrinkly, and his bright red tie was nowhere to be seen. Then there was his face. Where could he even start? His eyes were red and puffy, and there were obvious bags hanging under them. His lips were so chapped to the point where he looked like Shigaraki, which was also not good for obvious reasons.

Izuku shook his head and continued down the hall to his dorm with the same bizarre stride he had before.

When he entered his empty room, he scrambled around, looking for a glimpse of red tucked away anywhere.

When he found his tie, which had somehow gotten smushed between his mattress and the wall, Izuku threw it around his neck and tied it to the best of his abilities. Then he went on to find his comb.

It proved to be a difficult endeavor, he found out quickly, when the comb was nowhere to be seen after five minutes of fervent searching. He gave up after he glanced at the clock hanging on his wall and saw that he had seven minutes to get to class.

So Izuku rushed out of his dorm and out into the hallway, shoving his fingers into his hair in an attempt to comb out the tangles with them. It worked, though his fingers kept getting caught in the knots and he eventually grew tired of constantly ripping his trapped hands off his head so he switched his attention to his wrinkled uniform.

As he jogged out the doors of the dorms and onto the sidewalk leading to the school, Izuku desperately tried to smooth his clothing. His uniform obviously thought he needed a break from his never ending bad luck, because it smoothed out enough that the wrinkles weren't noticeable from a far distance.

Izuku smiled a little as something finally complied to his wishes and then went back to finger combing his hair. As he did that, he drew his tongue across his lips to wet them in a vain attempt to reduce the chapped look.

As he entered U.A., Izuku realized with a sinking heart that he hadn't done anything to remedy his eyes.

"Shoot..." He muttered under his breath as he leaped up the stairs two at a time, racing against the clock.

He entered the classroom right as the morning bell signaled the start to class. The whole class turned to look at him, since it was unusual of him to cut it so close.

Izuku turned his gaze to the floor to hide his bloodshot eyes from his classmates' views as he made his way to his desk. He felt the heat of all the gazes on him as he sat down in his seat and pulled out his books. Izuku held his breath as he stared at an indent in the wood of the desk.

"Alright class," Izuku heard Aizawa's usual deadpan voice and felt the weight on his shoulders lift off as everybody turned their attention towards the teacher. "You all know what we're doing today. Go get your costumes on and meet me at the arena for mock battles."

Izuku sat still in his desk as everybody else got up and left for the locker rooms.

He couldn't participate. He knew that. But what was he supposed to do then?

He heard shuffling and quickly glanced up to see Aizawa approaching him. He also took note of Iida lurking by the entrance to the classroom before he turned his gaze back to his desk.

Was Aizawa going to kick him out now? It was quite nice of him to do it while everybody was gone so he could at least keep a positive image of himself in his classmates minds after he left. Izuku didn't want to leave, but he knew he didn't deserve to be at U.A. in the first place, with his stolen quirk.

"Midoriya." Came the raspy voice.

Izuku looked up, turning his gaze towards the hero.

"Yes, Sensei?"

Aizawa blinked, perhaps taking in Izuku's pitiful appearance, before speaking.

"I'm well aware that you have lost your quirk in a rather unfortunate accident." He paused, rubbing his chin. "Of course, that means that you can't participate in any of the activities this week."

Izuku nodded silently, biting the inside of his cheeks. It was going to happen any second now.

"So, today I want you to go to this room." Aizawa stated simply, handing him a crumpled piece of paper.

"What?"

Izuku looked up with a shocked expression and Aizawa chuckled softly.

"What did you think? That I was going to expel you?"

"W-well, yeah." Izuku stammered, threading his hands together under his desk.

"I was thinking about transferring you into support, but let's just say you have some very," Aizawa stopped, rubbing at his eyes, "persistent friends."

Izuku had an inkling of an idea of who Aizawa was talking about and glanced at the entrance door, but nobody was there.

He looked down at the paper to see 'Room 223' scribbled out in sloppy handwriting.

"Is this—"

"Oh, looks like time's up. You'll find that room easily, Midoriya." Aizawa cut him off and walked out as he waved behind him.

Izuku stared down at the paper. He didn't deserve this. He should've been kicked out if he couldn't do anything useful, not sent to some random room.

But he couldn't stop the warm feeling in his chest when he thought about it more and it sunk in. He was staying. He'd be able to stay with his friends until they figured out he was useless and ditch him like everybody did in middle school.

With a deep breath, Izuku stood up and walked out of the classroom, looking for the room written on the paper clutched in his hand.

~o0o~

As Aizawa watched the mock battles, he couldn't help but think back to what had happened just minutes before.

The boy looked terrible. He looked nothing like the bright eyed, optimistic student he had come to know over the year.

Everything today was just...bizarre.

First off, on his way to U.A., he was positive that he saw a news station interviewing an obviously drunk group of friends. Which, now that he thought about it, wasn't so surprising, considering that there was no real news going on at the moment. But come on, a group of drunk teens? Seriously?

And then there was Iida. Where could he even start?

Aizawa sighed out loud.

The class president had burst into his room only minutes after he had arrived, demanding that Izuku should stay in the class. How he had known that he was even thinking about maybe transferring the kid was beyond him.

But Iida brought up good points, so he couldn't help but keep Izuku in class. If anything, it was to get Iida to leave him alone. He just wanted to sleep in his sleeping bag, not have to listen to a kid rant to him about something he hadn't even done. Plus, it would just feel a little empty without the green haired mutter machine in his class. But Aizawa knew that unless they could find a way to get Izuku's quirk back, he'd have to transfer eventually, no matter how much Iida kicked and screamed.

Aizawa turned his attention towards his students when he heard a large bang come from nearby. He rubbed his eyes and saw Bakugou screaming about something next to a burnt bleacher.

"...Your turn, Bakugou." He called, watching the teen drop whatever he was yelling about and strut into the arena.

He saw Jirou roll her eyes as she followed him out to the field for their battle. Cheers for her victory followed.

Aizawa smiled underneath his scarf as he thought about Bakugou losing to her. It would sure be nice to see him lose something other than his temper for once.

But thinking of Bakugou reminded him of Izuku, which then in turn reminded him of the horrible state the kid was in. What was wrong with him? Could it have anything to do with the loss of his quirk?

Aizawa scratched his chin, narrowing his eyes against the sun.

All of this could potentially stem from the shock of losing his quirk. After all, he's had his quirk for who knows how long, it'd only be natural for him to act differently while he got used to being quirkless. Mirio went through a similar phase as he adjusted to losing his quirk in an almost identical incident.

Speaking of Mirio, he hoped the third year wouldn't mind him sending Izuku over to hang out. He just thought that maybe he'd be able to help the kid out, since he had gone through the same experience and all.

The triumphant yowl that could only be Bakugou's rang out through the arena, effectively pulling Aizawa out of his thoughts.

He sighed for the umpteenth time that day.

~o0o~

Bakugou finished his triumphant shout and swaggered his way back to bleachers before sitting down and wiping the sweat off his face.

He sat there in silence for what seemed liked forever before he realized what was off. It was quiet. He wasn't being overly praised like he was the incarnation of God from Izuku. That fact brought Bakugou to the realization that the green haired boy was nowhere to be seen.

Good. Bakugou was tired of him following him around like a dog that was too loyal for its own good. What part of 'leave me the fuck alone!' did Izuku not get? Clearly not what Bakugou intended, that's for sure. Though he thought he gave Izuku enough signs to show that he wanted to cut ties.

Now, Bakugou knew he hadn't done the nicest things and that he probably could have worded some of the things he said in a more...better way. But it was too late now, what was he supposed to do, apologize to Izuku? Ha, like that was ever going to happen.

But really, where was the shitty nerd anyways?

Bakugou scanned the class with his crimson eyes, looking for the familiar tuft of green hair. Finding nothing, he huffed and turned his attention to the battle going on in front of him. It's not like he cared that Izuku was nowhere to be found.

Bakugou watched as Tokoyami got whacked in the face by Ojiro's tail.

"Ouch! That's gotta hurt." He heard Kirishima whisper to Kaminari.

"Yeah, that's gonna leave a bruise for sure." Kaminari replied.

Bakugou reclined, putting his feet on the top of the railing in front of him.

"Hey, you two extras whispering about shit over there," He called, giving them a glare. "Any idea where the shitty nerd is?"

"Shitty nerd?" Kaminari asked, confusion lacing his voice.

"Oh! You must be talking about Deku." Kirishima exclaimed.

"Yeah, yeah. Took ya long enough." Bakugou sneered. "So do you know where he is or not?"

"Uh, well he's not here." Kaminari offered.

"I think I realized that already." Bakugou said flatly.

He didn't feel like wasting any more energy shouting at the dunce. He realized that it was just a waste of breath a long time ago.

"I remember seeing him staying in the classroom as we left. Maybe he had a talk with Aizawa and went somewhere else?" Kirishima answered, shrugging. "I hope he's alright."

Huh. So he stayed behind. Interesting.

"Well, that's something. I wonder where the little shit went."

"Yeah..." Kaminari trailed off. "Wait. Why are you even asking? Are you...worried?"

What. No, that wasn't it at all. He just found it weird that Izuku was nowhere to be seen.

"No! I just wanted to know if I was gonna be free of his chattering for the rest of the day, that's all." Bakugou snapped.

Kaminari and Kirishima shared a look.

"Sure." They drawled in unison.

And that's when Bakugou snapped. It's not his fault that they took it too far. They were just asking for it now.

"You wanna go?" He shouted, jumping up with his hands readied. "I've got plenty of sweat to spare!"

"Uh, you do realize how gross that sounds, right?" Kaminari asked while scrunching up his face, not even phased by the threat.

"Yeah, is that gonna be your catchphrase?" Kirishima chimed in, laughing. "'You better be prepared, 'cause I've got plenty of sweat to spare!'"

They both burst out in laughter, earning confused glances from classmates nearby.

Oh. Now that does it. Those fuckers better be ready!

"I'm gonna kill you!" Bakugou screeched, explosions erupting from his hands.

"Bakugou!" Aizawa warned.

But it was too late.

An explosion large enough to shake the arena went off while distant cackling could still be heard among the screams.

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I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter! Again, thanks for taking your time to read, I appreciate it! And thank you for the reviews as well, I'm glad to hear that you're enjoying it! I'm planning on updating weekly, so I hope to see you next week :)


	3. Chapter 3

Izuku never realized how hard it was to track down a room in U.A. until now. He had to have gone around the school twice before somehow stumbling across the room that was written on his slip.

So there he stood, in front of the plain wooden door, trying to understand why Aizawa sent him there. Was anyone else inside? What was he supposed to do? Aizawa didn't give him any information other than the room number.

Maybe he could quick sneak back to his dorm to fix his appearance.

And Izuku was about to do just that, before the door opened and he came face to face with—

"Mi-Mirio!" He stammered in surprise, trying to cover his eyes so the older boy wouldn't notice his haggard appearance.

"Izuku, is that you?" Mirio sounded as surprised as Izuku before gaining his composure and saying, "Well, come on in, what are you waiting for?"

Izuku shuffled in slowly as he passed Mirio, who had been holding the door open for him.

"Thank you."

"It's no problem!" Mirio replied with a thumbs up.

Izuku could only smile weakly in return.

What was Mirio doing here? And more importantly, what was _he _himself doing here?

Mirio passed him and went down to sit at a table, covered with stacks upon stacks of paper. That's when Izuku realized the whole room was covered in paper. Papers laid abandoned on the floor, shoe marks all over them, and there were sheets pinned to a bulletin board that looked like it had seen better days.

Izuku stared in disbelief as he surveyed the room. Just why did Mirio need all this paper? Was he researching something?

"So," Mirio spoke, drawing Izuku's attention back to him, "What brings you here to my wonderful abode?"

"Um, I'm not really sure," Izuku answered quietly, "All I know is that Aizawa sent me here because I—"

He really didn't want to say it out loud, because once he did, it would be all too real. But he had to. Besides, didn't Mirio also lose his quirk? He would be the best one to talk to. But the difference between him and Mirio is that Mirio's quirk wasn't a stolen quirk he didn't deserve.

Mirio gave Izuku a concerned look as he struggled to get the words out.

"I can't participate in class anymore," Izuku took a deep breath, "I lost One for All."

It wasn't his quirk, so he wasn't going to claim it as his anymore. He was just going to call it by its name from now on.

Izuku watched with a dull gaze as Mirio's eyes widened while he took in the statement. He dug his nails into the palms of his hands as he clenched his fists, waiting for Mirio's response.

Mirio closed his eyes before taking a heavy breath and whispering, "I didn't want anyone else to go through this. I'm sorry that you have to, Izuku."

That's right. Mirio lost his quirk quite a while ago. He must've gotten used to being quirkless. Izuku remembered him telling his class proudly about how he had mastered the quirk he had been given, and how great it was to be one of the Big Three. He can't even imagine how Mirio felt when he realized his quirk was gone. And here Izuku was, whining about the loss of quirk that wasn't even his.

"Well!" Mirio exclaimed suddenly, jumping up from the table. "Looks like you're stuck with me for a while then."

Izuku frowned, perturbed by Mirio's sudden change in demeanor. Mirio was unfazed by his silence, however, and continued to talk.

"Don't just stand there! You can come over here and help me."

Izuku really didn't want to get caught up in whatever Mirio was doing and be a bother, but what other choice did he have? He couldn't be of any use in class. Maybe he could be useful here?

So he begrudgingly made his way over to the tall blond, who happened to be shuffling through a stack of the many papers in the small room.

"So, um, what are all these papers for?" Izuku asked as he eyed the bulletin board.

"It's research!" Mirio replied enthusiastically. "I'm trying to figure out how to get back my— well, now our— quirks back. Y'know, since Eri's not ready to use her quirk quite just yet."

Izuku felt a tiny flame light up inside him. Could there be a way for him to get back what he lost? He could fix his mistake and make it up to All Might!

Maybe...maybe he had a chance!

"Oh! That's cool, how much have you found out so far?" Izuku asked excitedly.

"I'm glad you're more into it now, but I haven't found as much as I hoped to." Mirio replied, his eyes cast downwards.

"Oh..."

Izuku visibly deflated. So he really didn't have a chance after all. It felt so much worse to come crashing down from the high hope he had just built than he thought it would.

"But, I'm sure with the two of us working together that we'll find something!"

"Yeah...maybe." Izuku replied with a faint smile.

"Hey, don't be like that now." Mirio said, bending down to look him in the eyes, "It's not over yet."

Yeah. Yeah! It wasn't over yet! So what was he doing already giving up? That wasn't like him at all! He'd get back the quirk for All Might, no matter what!

"Yeah!" Izuku smiled, a true, real smile for the first time that week before clenching his first in determination. "We can do it!"

"That's the spirit, Izuku!" Mirio replied with a smile as he pulled out a chair and gestured for the younger boy to sit down.

Izuku gratefully accepted the invitation and sat down next to the tall blond. He carefully pulled a stack of papers towards himself and started skimming through them, looking for a glimpse of information that might prove useful enough to pin on the bulletin board.

After about an hour, Izuku stood up to stretch, and needless to say, he was quite disheartened.

"So Mirio." Izuku asked, attempting to make small talk. "How long have you been doing this?"

Mirio looked up from where he was piling some sheets together before responding.

"Hmm...I'd say about a month now."

A month? And he hadn't found anything of worth yet? That didn't settle too well with Izuku. But he couldn't give up just yet! Especially if Mirio was still going strong after searching for a month. He couldn't lose hope after an hour!

But was Mirio in the same situation as him? Was he still in the hero course even after a month of sitting out? That seemed extremely unlikely, but the only way to know for sure was to ask.

"Mirio, are you still in the hero course?" Izuku asked, and when he saw Mirio stiffen he quickly added, "You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"No, no. It's fine." Mirio assured him with a small smile. "I was transferred into support until I get my quirk back."

So that would happen to him eventually. But this was Mirio's last year, so what would happen if he graduated without ever getting his quirk back? Izuku couldn't even imagine how that would feel.

"Well, we're not going to get anywhere if we just sit here talking, now are we?"

"No, we're not." Izuku replied with a small laugh before sitting back down.

He would do his best to find a way, if not for himself, for Mirio and All Might.

~o0o~

Kirishima sat at his desk, resting his head atop it while he listened to Aizawa chastise Bakugou about the distraction he caused earlier. He knew he shouldn't have pushed Bakugou so far, but he really just couldn't help himself that time. Not when Bakugou said something so stupid as 'I've got plenty of sweat to spare!'. Honestly, what did he expect when he said that? For him and Kaminari cower in fear?

Kirishima glanced at Izuku's empty desk. Now really, where did he go? And why did Bakugou want to know?

Kirishima sighed. He didn't know what was going on with Izuku, but he knew that there was something definitely wrong with him. He was almost late to class, and when he walked in the door he didn't look so hot either.

The only thing he could think of is if Izuku somehow got involved with the villain that broke into the school a few days ago. But that couldn't be possible, since they were all evacuated as soon as possible while the teachers took care of it. And the villain was captured too, so there was no way Izuku ran into them afterwards.

Kirishima rubbed at his face, deciding that the only person who could know would be Aizawa. But he was currently yelling at Bakugou. And Kirishima did not want to interrupt that. He was enjoying listening to it, actually.

"Look." Aizawa said sternly, as he dragged his hand down his face. "You can't just blow up people when they make you mad. You're going to go to jail if you do that when you're an adult."

"Yeah. I know that." Bakugou replied, exasperated. "I'm just really not in the greatest mood today."

Kirishima thought he heard Aizawa mutter something about Bakugou never being in the greatest mood, and he couldn't help but agree with his teacher.

"Okay, but that doesn't make it right. Now go to your seat."

Now was his chance!

"Uh, Sensei?" Kirishima asked, walking towards Aizawa as Bakugou stomped away.

He heard Aizawa let out a little sigh before turning to face him.

"Yes, Kirishima?"

"I was just wondering if you knew where Deku is? I haven't see him since this morning."

"Oh, I had him sit out today since he wasn't feeling the best." Aizawa replied. "If he can't give his all, I'm not going to watch him. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to start class."

Kirishima made his way back to his desk slowly, disappointed in the answer. Aizawa didn't really answer his question! He still had no idea where Izuku was.

Not that he was really entitled to know. Sure, he considered himself a friend of Izuku's, but he certainly wasn't the closest. That honor would go to both Uraraka and Iida. But that didn't mean that he himself couldn't be worried.

"Now class, I want you to listen closely." Aizawa began.

Kirishima turned his gaze onto the teacher, thoughts of his green haired classmate pushed to the back of his mind as he listened to Aizawa start the lesson.

~o0o~

"Midoriya isn't quirkless." Todoroki replied flatly. "Haven't you seen him in action?"

He watched as Iida slid a hand down his face while Uraraka patted the bespectacled boy on the back.

If they pulled him outside of the cafeteria during lunch just to prank him, he was never going to forgive them. His poor soba was sitting defenseless in there. If something were to happen to it...

"Is that all you wanted to say?" Todoroki asked, turning to go back. "Because I—"

"Don't you get it?" Uraraka cried out, stopping him right in his tracks. "Deku lost his quirk!"

Todoroki couldn't stop the shock from registering on his face as he stared at Uraraka as tears streamed down her face and Iida, whose gaze was directed on the floor as he adjusted his glasses.

"How is that possible? Unless he came into contact with the vil—" Todoroki stopped when he saw the looks on their faces.

"So he did." He continued. "But why are you telling me this?"

Uraraka, who had stopped crying, glanced at Iida before stepping forward.

"I-it's just that we thought that maybe you could—" She stopped, wringing her hands together. "Maybe you could talk to him?"

"Please." Iida added as he bowed with his arms rigidly at his sides.

"Me?" Todoroki asked, taken aback. "Why me?"

He couldn't fathom why they were asking _him _of all people. Why didn't they talk to him themselves?

"I've already tried talking to him." Uraraka said, reading his mind.

"And I don't think I would be of any help based on what Uraraka's told me." Iida added as he straightened up from his bow.

"So you want me to try." Todoroki stiffened. "That's a terrible idea."

"And why is that?" Iida asked, sounding offended.

"I'm not good at talking with people." He replied bluntly.

"While that may be true, we don't have any other ideas." Uraraka interjected. "So please, Todoroki."

What was he supposed to talk to him about? He doubted anything he said would help Izuku, especially if talking to Uraraka didn't work. But he supposed it wouldn't hurt to try.

Todoroki sighed.

"Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you."

"Thank you!" They both replied, relief evident in their voices.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I have some soba to eat." He said, turning around and heading back to the cafeteria.

"Thanks again!" He heard Uraraka shout behind him.

Todoroki allowed himself a little smile as he pushed open the doors to the cafeteria and walked over to the table where his beloved soba laid waiting for him.

He sat down, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw that the food was untouched. He brought the noodles to his mouth and took a big slurp.

Now, he had to plan out what he was going to say to Izuku. He guessed he at least owed him that for what he did during the festival. He might still be only using his ice if it wasn't for Izuku. So with that in mind, Todoroki didn't feel so against talking to his friend. At least, _he _thought of Izuku as a friend. He could only hope that Izuku thought the same.

The thing that worried him was his obvious lack of social skills. Yes, he was aware of his weaknesses. And communicating in general was one of them. So that's why he was surprised that Uraraka and Iida asked him of all people.

Well, he would try his best, and whatever happened, happened. He already gave them a fair warning.

Right now, his biggest problem was to finish this bowl of soba before the bell rang.

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Again, I'd just like to stress how much it means to me that you take the time out of your day to read my story; it really makes my day to hear that people are enjoying it. Have a good rest of your day and thanks for stopping by!


	4. Chapter 4

Izuku sighed as he made his way back to his dorm on the last day of the week. Aizawa had sent him to that same room every day. He and Mirio found nothing useful throughout their search. Most of the reports Mirio had pinned to the bulletin board were about people who had claimed they were unable to use their quirk for a certain amount of time, but nothing about how they got them back. It really seemed like the only way to regain the quirks was through Eri, who was far from ready to use her quirk again.

So he was in low spirits as he trudged down the halls of U.A., chastising himself for ever believing that he could get One for All back. It was better to give up now when he wasn't too invested than to continue and feel even worse when he would end up empty handed anyways.

He was just about to push open the doors and leave the school before he heard someone's footsteps behind him.

"Midoriya."

Izuku turned around and was met by two mismatched eyes. There stood Todoroki, a few feet away from where Izuku himself was standing.

"Todoroki?" He sputtered, surprised. "Oh, am I in your way? Sorry."

He stepped away from the door, giving the other boy a clear path out.

"What?" Todoroki shook his head. "No, no. That's not it."

Then what was it? Izuku couldn't read his mind. But Todoroki was one of little words, so what was he supposed to do?

"Um, then what is it?" He asked, shifting his feet.

Todoroki hesitated before saying, "I've heard that you're quirkless."

Izuku stilled, trying to process what he just heard. When he finally understood, he was thrown into hysteria.

No. No, no! Todoroki knew? Who told him? This wasn't supposed to happen!

Izuku felt himself breathing harder as the room spun around him. He stepped backwards and leaned against the wall.

"Wh-who?"

"Uraraka and Iida told me."

When did they know? Did Aizawa tell them? He told him he didn't want anyone to know! How come they haven't ditched him yet? They knew he was useless, so what were they waiting for!

"Why are you—" Izuku took a gulp. "Why are you still talking to me?"

He was quirkless. Nobody wanted to be friends with a quirkless loser. Especially a quirkless loser who had used a stolen quirk.

A look that Izuku could only describe as confusion crossed Todoroki's face.

"Why wouldn't l?"

"Because I'm a quirkless loser who was given a quirk that I didn't earn and then lost it." He replied as tears welled in his eyes.

Izuku paused for a moment, eyes widening as he realized what he just said.

"Wait!" He begged, pushing against the wall to fling himself towards Todoroki's feet. "Please forget you ever heard that!"

He already messed up enough by losing All Might's quirk. To share the secret that All Might entrusted him with was even worse!

Izuku watched as Todoroki slowly backed away from where he laid prostrated on the ground.

"What are you saying?" Todoroki asked, his eyes wide as he stared at Izuku. "You were originally quirkless?"

Izuku squeezed his eyes shut and grimaced as he stood up to face Todoroki.

"Yes."

It was such a small word, but that didn't make the pain of saying it any less. Izuku felt like he was being stabbed as he waited for Todoroki's response. He was going to say that he didn't want to be friends with a quirkless loser and that Uraraka and Iida didn't either and—

"So what?"

"W-what?" Izuku sputtered, blinking the remains of his tears away.

"So what if you're quirkless? You're still you aren't you?"

Izuku sighed. He wasn't getting it!

"Yeah, but I lied about having a quirk. Don't you feel hurt?"

"Of course I feel a little hurt that you'd withhold something like that." Todoroki replied. "But I'm sure you had your reasons."

"But it wasn't my quirk!" Izuku shouted, frustrated. "I got into U.A. based on a lie!"

Todoroki stared at him silently.

Izuku smiled a little to himself. Todoroki was finally getting it through his head that he was not someone to be friends with.

"If I remember correctly," Todoroki said with a thoughtful expression. "Someone once told me that my quirk was my power. Does that ring a bell?"

Izuku felt all the words on his tongue die.

"But it really wasn't my quirk." He replied weakly.

Todoroki sighed, rubbing a hand through his hair.

"Why are you trying to make me hate you?" He asked softly.

Izuku's eyes widened.

"Th-that's not what—"

"Yes, you are."

He fell silent as he stared at Todoroki. Was he unconsciously trying to push Todoroki away? He hadn't meant to, but he supposed that would be easier than trying to cling onto his friends like he did in middle school. And that didn't end very well.

"It's just easier this way." He mumbled.

"To push away your friends?"

"Nobody wants to be friends with a quirkless loser anyways. I'd rather end it now before I get ditched."

"That's not going to hap—" Todoroki started before Izuku cut him off.

"It happened in middle school! Who's to say it won't happen now?"

Izuku watched as Todoroki fell silent. Finally.

"I didn't become your friend because I liked your quirk. I became your friend because I liked _you._" He whispered after a while, walking past Izuku and leaving the school.

The door closed behind him with a resounding thunk, leaving a speechless Izuku to stare at it.

~o0o~

Momo considered herself an observant person. Especially since she had to memorize everything an object was made of for the off chance that she would need it for battle. She needed to recognize certain materials and combinations for pretty much everything she came across. It really made shopping for anything a difficult endeavor. Not that she didn't enjoy learning how to make new objects.

So when she saw Todoroki close the door to the dorms with more force than he needed to, she knew something was up.

Now usually, she wouldn't stick her nose in others' business, but she considered Todoroki a friend. The two sat next to each other in class, it was inevitable that they would end up talking to each other sometimes. And she found out quickly that talking to Todoroki was quite fun, once you got past the fact that he was extremely blunt and showed no remorse.

So with that in mind, Momo got up from her place on the couch where she had been sitting with Jirou and approached Todoroki. She started to get cold feet when she sensed the irritability coming off him in waves, but it was too late to back out now, he had already spotted her.

"Yaoyorozu?" He asked, his voice sharp.

She flinched at his tone before clearing her throat.

"I just happened to notice that you seem to be upset."

"And?"

Momo noticed how he didn't say no. So something _was _bothering him after all.

"Did you want to talk about it?" She asked, hoping he would say yes.

It might do him some good to express his feelings sometimes. If you bottle it all up it'll just explode later. She knew that. It happened to her when she lost her self confidence after the festival.

"No." He replied, disappearing down the hall leading to his dorm.

Momo sighed. Well, she tried. But she couldn't force him to talk if he didn't want to. And she'd only be a nuisance if she tried to pry any further. She didn't want to tarnish her friendship with Todoroki that she had managed to build.

She made her way back to the couch where Jirou sat watching her approach, curiosity in her gaze.

"What was that about?" She asked as Momo flopped down next to her.

"Todoroki looked upset and I offered to talk with him."

"_That _was upset?" Jirou asked incredulously. "He looked exactly the same as always!"

"Really?" Momo asked, surprised.

"Well, it's no surprise. You're way more observant than me."

Momo felt awkward as her friend praised her. She always felt uncomfortable whenever anyone complimented her and would rush to find something about them she could praise them for in return.

"Oh, it's really nothing, Jirou. Besides you're—"

"Just accept the compliment!" Jirou yelled as she lightly whacked Momo on the head with one of her jacks.

"Ow! That hurt, Jirou." She replied, laughing as she rubbed the top of her head.

"Good. You need to learn how to accept praise better. There's a fine line between being humble and just plain stubborn."

"I guess you're right, Jirou. I'll try harder next time!"

"I'm sure you will. You wouldn't be you if you didn't." Jirou replied with a small smile.

"I wouldn't, would I?" Momo said with a laugh. "Maybe you should work harder at trying to not hit people with your jacks when they're being stupid. You're going to end up like Bakugou."

"You take that back right now!" Jirou gasped, grabbing a nearby pillow and flinging it at her.

"Hey! I'm just making an observation."

"Yeah, yeah. We already established that!"

~o0o~

Amajiki was almost completely certain that something was wrong with Mirio. He just had this...feeling whenever he was around his friend. He had known Mirio for most of his life, so he thinks he should be qualified enough to have worries. It seemed like Nejire had noticed as well.

"_Is something up with Mirio?" She had asked him one day._

He didn't know for sure what was causing Mirio to act differently, but he had an idea. Maybe it had something to do with his quirk. Or lack of, if he wanted to be specific.

Amajiki remembered when he first heard the news about Mirio after they successfully rescued Eri.

"_He lost his quirk?"_

He remembered himself not believing it at first. Mirio, the one who had worked the hardest to master his quirk, lost it, just like that? It couldn't be true. Mirio would never let that happen. He _loved_ his quirk. He loved being a hero. He would never lose his quirk.

But when Mirio had approached him a day later and told him, Amajiki couldn't deny it anymore. What was he supposed to do without Mirio? He was going to be all alone! He hated how Mirio had to comfort _him_, when it should've been the other way around. He should've just kept his pessimistic thoughts to himself.

And when Mirio had told him that he was transferring to support, he did just that. He tried to comfort his friend.

"_It'll be okay! We can...we can still—"_

"_You don't have to worry about me, I'll be fine!" Mirio had replied with a smile before patting Amajiki on the back._

And Amajiki believed him. At least, he did, before Mirio started showing signs of _not_ being fine.

There were many occasions where his usual enthusiasm would disappear and be replaced with what Amajiki could only describe as how he really felt about the situation. But the enthusiasm would come back full force almost instantly after. Amajiki could only feel unsettled whenever that happened.

And his worry only grew as he watched Mirio obsess over how to get his quirk back without using Eri's quirk. It wasn't a healthy obsession. Mirio would constantly have bags under his eyes that when asked about he would say,

"_Oh, those? I keep losing track of time while I research."_

Now, while Mirio could lose track of time every once in a while, Amajiki knew that he would always make sure he got a sufficient amount of sleep. He wanted to be ready for anything the next day. But that resolve must have disappeared along with his quirk.

He tried to breach the subject one day.

"_Hey, Mirio? Don't you think you might be going a little overboard with this research?"_

"_No, not in the slightest." He had replied. "Amajiki! I know I'm going to find something soon, I just know it!"_

_But Amajiki didn't believe him this time._

"_Are you sure? I think you have to open your eyes and look at this realist—"_

"_Amajiki." Mirio had said, his voice sharp. "I will find something. Now please don't ruin this with your pessimism."_

And that was when Amajiki was sure that Mirio had a problem. But how was he supposed to help him if he wouldn't let him?

Amajiki sighed as he sat at the desk he had in his room. He stared at a faded photo of him and Mirio when they were kids. If he was remembering correctly, it was taken shortly after they developed their quirks. They had went out for ice cream to celebrate and decided to take a picture to remember it.

Soon after that Mirio started to train with his quirk. He trained almost every day. And Amajiki was always there to help him when he messed up. The two of them were always together. Same neighborhood, same school, same class. But now he could feel a rift between him and Mirio growing. And he didn't know how to stop it.

He didn't know if he _could_ stop it.

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Happy Thanksgiving! I'm grateful for all of you, for sticking with my story so far! So I guess I should tell you all my inspiration for this fic, which is literally that one line that Todoroki said. The, "Someone once told me that my quirk was my power. Does that ring a bell?" line. Yup, that's what caused this whole fic to really start. I mean, I already had the idea in my head, but I was like 'nah, don't really feel like writing that' until that line came into my head and I decided that I had to write this story because Todoroki had to be a gangster and spit Izuku's words right back at him because reasons. Anyways, I hope to see you next week, and have a good Thanksgiving!


	5. Chapter 5

What just happened?

Izuku stood dumbfounded as he stared at where Todoroki had been moments before. It took him a few moments before he threw himself in a frenzy. So Todoroki, Iida and Uraraka knew he was quirkless. He tried to calm himself down, to see if he could remember any signs of them showing that they knew.

Well, there was that time Uraraka came in with cookies but he didn't think she kn—

"_O-oh, well, it's just, when I heard what happened at the whole quirk erasure bullet incident, I wanted to see how you were doing..."_

She knew! She knew the day right after, but he was too invested in his pity party that he hadn't paid much attention to what she was saying!

The word pity party itched at his brain for some reason. He pondered why for a bit before he realized. He had just thrown another one while Todoroki was trying to talk with him!

What was wrong with him? His friends were just trying to help and he totally ignored them because he was too caught up in himself to realize it!

He wasn't being himself at all! He was being extremely selfish. Mirio was in the same situation and he wasn't feeling sad for himself every chance he got, was he?

Wait. His friends knew he was quirkless and they continued to try to help him? So they didn't think he was useless after all? That's what Todoroki was trying to tell him the whole time, wasn't he?

Izuku smiled to himself, his heart warm. It wasn't like middle school at all. They were going to stick with him. He should've trusted them more.

His smile disappeared quickly though. He was a real jerk to them. He was a real jerk to everybody. He needed to apologize!

Izuku clenched his fist in determination. He was going to m—

"Hey, kid. It's getting late. What are you still doing here?" A raspy voice said behind him.

Izuku flinched, lowering his fist before turning around.

"Sensei?" He asked sheepishly as he came face to face with Aizawa.

"Yeah." Aizawa said, looking tired. "Now are you going to get your butt out of here or am I going to have to drag yo—"

"Oh, Sensei!" Izuku blubbered, tears welling in his eyes. "I'm so sorry! I'm sorry I was a jerk!"

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

Izuku ignored the question as he rushed over and gave Aizawa a hug.

"Thank you, Sensei, thank you!" He cried as he released him from his hug and backed away, sniffling.

"You okay, kid?" Aizawa asked as apprehension crept into his voice.

"I'm better than okay!" Izuku replied happily. "And it's all thanks to you for not listening to what I said, so thank you."

Aizawa let out a deep breath as he realized what Izuku meant.

"You're welcome, Midoriya." He paused. "I just thought they should have known what happened. You needed someone to be there for you, at least that was my thought process."

Izuku wiped the remains of his tears on his sleeve as he watched Aizawa shift awkwardly on his feet.

"And you were right, I did need someone, so thank you." He gasped, remembering what he was thinking about before he ran into Aizawa. "Sorry, but I have to go!"

He gave Aizawa one last smile before bolting out of the school.

Izuku rushed towards the dorms, planning on what he was going to do when he got there. He had to make things right! Especially to Uraraka, Iida and Todoroki. He didn't know why he didn't realize before. He just felt so bad about losing One for All that he felt he deserved to be back in middle school again. So he tried to make his friends hate him as a punishment. But that was selfish of him. He couldn't choose his own punishment. The only one who could was...All Might.

Izuku shuddered. He didn't want to think about that at the moment. He already had a lot to fix right now. He'd worry about talking to All Might later.

He saw the dorms coming up ahead of him and ran even faster. He had to get there before everyone was asleep...!

He burst through the doors, causing everyone in the immediate vicinity to look up from what they were doing.

"Uh, you alright bro?" Kaminari asked, concern written on his features.

"Yes! I'm totally fine!" Izuku replied with much more enthusiasm than needed before adding, "Hey, you wouldn't happen to know where—"

"Midoriya!"

Izuku turned around to see—

"Iida!" He said, eyes widening as he saw Uraraka step out from behind the other boy. "And Uraraka!"

"Hi Deku." Uraraka said nervously, giving him a small wave as she smiled awkwardly. "We just wanted—"

Izuku didn't let her finish.

"I'm sorry!" He cried. "I'm so sorry!"

He crouched down, resting his elbows on his knees as he caught his breath.

"Huh?" Iida asked, confused. "What are you talking about, Midoriya?"

"I-I was such a jerk and I totally didn't think about how you guys would feel and I should've known that you guys wouldn't care if I had a quirk or not and now I'm sure that Todoroki's mad at me but that's my fault and I'm just so sorry!" He rambled as he looked up at them, tears streaming down his face.

"Hey. Deku, it's alright." Uraraka said as she crouched down next to him, tears welling in her eyes. "All we wanted was for you to realize your _own _worth. Not your quirk's."

She hugged him tight, and Izuku could feel her teardrops on the back of his shirt. He brought his arms around her and squeezed back.

After they finished they both stood up, wiping away the remains of their tears away. Izuku looked at Iida, who had stood silent the whole time.

"Iida—" He started.

It was at that moment that the bespectacled boy rushed forward, so fast that it looked like he was using his quirk, embracing Izuku in a hug.

"I'm glad you're back." Iida whispered.

"Thank you."

They parted and Izuku smiled a watery smile, sniffling. He never should've doubted them. They were Uraraka and Iida! Of course they wouldn't ditch him for something as stupid as a quirk!

"Thank you, both of you. For being my friends no matter what."

"Nothing could ever make us stop being friends with you." Uraraka replied. "Right, Iida?"

"Correct." The other boy said with a small smile as he adjusted his glasses.

Izuku stood there smiling for a moment before remembering.

"Todoroki!" He cried out, running to the hall his friend's dorm was located in.

He was so glad that Uraraka and Iida had accepted his apology, but he knew Todoroki wasn't the type to quickly forgive. And Izuku didn't expect him to, with the way he had acted. But he had to at least apologize, it didn't matter whether or not Todoroki accepted it.

When he came to the door of Todoroki's room, Izuku stopped, taking a deep breath before knocking on the door.

No response.

Izuku knocked harder.

Still no response.

"Todoroki? Are you in there?" He asked, growing worried.

He heard someone's footsteps before the door opened.

"What do you want?" Todoroki asked as he rubbed at his eyes, which Izuku noticed were red rimmed.

"I just-I wanted to apologize." He managed to get out. "I'm sorry I was such a jerk."

"Yeah. You were."

Izuku winced at the at the blunt statement. But it was true. And he deserved it.

"But I don't take back what I said before. You're still my friend. And not because of your quirk." Todoroki said after a while.

"D-does that mean that you for—" Izuku asked, hope taking flight in his heart.

"No."

Izuku felt the hope that was just beginning to soar crash and burn at the sound of one little word. Well, it was to be expected. He couldn't expect everyone to be as forgiving as Uraraka and Iida. That would be—

"Of course I forgive you." Todoroki said suddenly, chuckling a little to himself. "Did you really believe that?"

Izuku felt his heart stop. Was that his idea of a _joke_? Because if it was, it was a horrible joke. A horrible, _horrible _joke.

"Yeah, I did!" Izuku got out after a while. "That wasn't funny. I really believed you."

Todoroki stopped laughing. "Sorry, but I think you deserved that."

Normally Izuku would've protested, but he knew that he actually deserved it this time.

"You're right."

Izuku went in for a hug, but Todoroki backed away at the sudden movement.

"What are you doing?" He asked, as Izuku dropped his outstretched arms.

"I was going to give you a hug."

"Oh."

They stood there in awkward silence.

"Well do you want one?" Izuku asked after a while.

"Sure." Todoroki replied as he stepped towards Izuku.

Izuku moved forward and gave him a hug. He felt Todoroki stiffen up at the contact and let go shortly after.

"Thank you." Todoroki said as he let go.

Izuku gaped. There was no need to thank him! It was just a hug!

"Well, goodnight." He said when he saw Todoroki yawn. "See you tomorrow."

"Yes. See you tomorrow."

After Todoroki closed his door, Izuku made his way to his dorm, feeling happier than he ever had before.

~o0o~

Kaminari stared down the hall Izuku had disappeared in. What did he just witness? It looked like a confession scene right out of an anime he would watch late at night.

"Hey, you guys know what that was about?" He asked Uraraka and Iida, who looked almost as confused as he felt.

"I'm not certain, but I'm guessing that the talk Todoroki had with him didn't end well if he's rushing to apologize." Iida answered.

Talk? What talk?

"Did they fight?" Kaminari asked, hoping to shed some light on the situation.

"I think they had an argument." Uraraka replied, a thoughtful expression crossing her face.

Kaminari was about to ask another question before he felt a hand pat him on the head. He turned around to see Kirishima smiling a toothy grin at him.

"Watcha guys talking about?"

"Deku." Kaminari said, making room for the other boy on the counter he was leaning on.

Kirishima took advantage of the newly opened space and rested his elbows on the hard marble.

"Deku?" Kirishima asked, his brow wrinkling. "I have some questions about him that I've been meaning to ask."

Kaminari watched as Uraraka and Iida gave each other a glance before Uraraka responded.

"Well, what would you like to know?"

"What's been happening with Deku lately?" Kirishima blurted out as soon as Uraraka finished.

"How should I say it?" Iida said quietly. "It's not really my news to share, but I can say that Midoriya is in much better spirits now."

Kaminari watched as Kirishima frowned as he heard the answer. He felt the same, but he guessed Iida was right. It wouldn't be cool to share Izuku's secrets without his permission.

"I mean, that makes sense." He said, glancing at Kirishima. "You wouldn't want people talking behind your back either, right?"

"I guess you're right." Kirishima responded, the frown turning into a small smile.

Kaminari saw Uraraka and Iida give him grateful smiles out of the corner of his eye as Kirishima agreed with him. He gave them a small thumbs up as he grinned.

"Woah, geesh. There's no reason to smile so brightly, is there?" Kirishima asked as he noticed Kaminari's smile.

"There's plenty of reasons to smile."

Kirishima gave him a confused look before laughing.

"Either you're in a really good mood today, or you're going delusional from lack of sleep." Kirishima leaned in closer to him. "I told you to stop watching anime so late at night."

"Who said midnight is late?" Kaminari replied with a laugh.

"I'm going to take my leave." Iida said as he attempted to cover his yawn. "Have a good rest of your night."

"Yeah, I'm gonna head off to bed too." Uraraka added with a wave as she walked towards the girl's dorms. "See you guys tomorrow."

"Yeah, see you." Kaminari and Kirishima replied in unison.

They stood in silence for a while, realizing that they were the only ones still up.

"Hey bro, you wanna watch some anime?" Kaminari asked.

"Heck yeah! I need to see Haruhi teach those boys some lessons!"

"Then to the couch it is!"

They both ran over to the couch, ready to watch anime until they passed out from exhaustion.

~o0o~

Mirio sat hunched over the desk in his room as he sifted through a stack of documents he took from the room he Izuku had been working in together for the past week. Even with Izuku's help, they hadn't found anything! Not a single scrap of information that could've helped them. Nothing!

Mirio gripped the pen in his hand, gritting his teeth. A month. He had been searching for a month. Sleepless nights, tired days. All for what? Nothing brought him any closer to his quirk!

But he couldn't give up. No, no, no. If he did, that would be the true end. If he kept going, he was bound to find something, right? The world wouldn't be so cruel as to snatch his quirk away without any means to get it back, right?

There was a way. There was a way. There was no way that there _wasn't_ a way. He would find it. He just had to give it another month. That's all. He just had to wait a little longer.

Mirio's grip on the pen was so powerful that it broke, spraying black ink everywhere. Onto him and his documents.

Mirio rushed to dab the ink off before it bled into the papers underneath. He couldn't let them get ruined. He couldn't. They were the only thing he had going for him.

He was running out of time. Graduation was approaching, and if he didn't have his quirk by then, the chances of him making it out in the world as a superhero weren't so good. He would have to give up his dream. He'd rather die than do that.

Mirio sighed, rubbing ink off his hands. His friends didn't understand. They would never understand. Amajiki was doubting him, trying to make him give up. Didn't he get that if he gave up, it would all be over?

"I can't give up." Mirio said into the darkness. "There's nothing waiting for me if I do."

Where would he go? How would he make a living? He heard that quirkless people had tough times finding jobs.

Mirio shook his head roughly, slapping himself in the face with his hand. He was thinking about what he would do if he never got his quirk back. And that was like giving up. And he wasn't doing that.

He laughed. It started out as a deep chuckle before it became high pitched and chaotic.

He was doomed, wasn't he? It wasn't coming back. He'd never get it back. He wasn't going to force Eri to try. And there was no other way. He was going to graduate. Quirkless.

The laughter turned into crying.

After all those years of training. Every bump and bruise. None it mattered now that he had no quirk. Gone, just like that. _If he had just dodged...!_

Mirio banged his fist on the desk, scattering the papers around his room.

Why didn't he dodge? If he had just moved, even an inch, he wouldn't be in this situation! He wasted a month looking for a solution that didn't even exist!

Mirio pushed his hands through his hair, tears silently streaming down his face.

He didn't like feeling like this. He didn't like it at all. It was easier to pretend everything would be alright. If he believed in it hard enough, maybe it would come true.

He couldn't give up!

Mirio brushed the tears from his eyes, his resolve hardening.

He'd find a way. He'd find a way no matter what.

:—:—:—:—:—:—:—:—:—:—:—:—:—:—:—:—:—:—:—:—:—:—:—:—:—:—:—:—:—:

Hey everyone, glad to see that you're still reading! The reviews, follows, and favorites really make my day; it just makes me so happy to know that there are people out there who enjoy my story (that sounds so sappy, but it's the truth!). I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving, and I hope to see you all next week! (By the way, as you can probably tell after this chapter, I'm a big fan of Ouran High School Host Club; it was actually the first anime I ever watched, so it's the one to blame for my anime/manga obsession)


	6. Chapter 6

Izuku woke up on Monday feeling refreshed. He put on his uniform with enthusiasm and tied his tie with a smile. He finally found his comb, which had somehow gotten stuck in between his sheets, and combed out all the unruly knots, restoring his hair back to its usual bounce. He put on his shoes and ran out of his room, ready to start the day.

"Uraraka, Iida!" He called, waving to his friends as they stood by the sidewalk.

They waved back, giving him smiles as he ran towards them.

"Good morning, Midoriya!" Iida greeted.

"Good morning!" Izuku replied, falling into step with them as they walked.

"What are you doing today?" Uraraka asked.

"I'm going to do the same thing I've been doing for the past week." He said dejectedly, kicking a stone across the sidewalk.

He had told them about the research sessions with Mirio over the weekend. To say they were a little surprised would be an understatement.

"It's not that bad, is it?" Iida asked, concern taking over his features.

"Not really, but it just weighs me down when I can't find a scrap of information."

"I guess that makes sense." Uraraka replied.

They watched as a hero, who Izuku assumed had either just debuted or was currently debuting by the look of nervousness on their face, chased down a villain that had a large bag of money slung over their shoulder.

"Oh!" Izuku exclaimed, digging through his backpack. "I need to write down what their quirk is in my..."

He trailed off, remembering that he had torn apart his notebook. Why did he do that again? Now he had nothing to document the quirks he came across in.

"Midoriya? What's wrong?" Iida asked, seeing the slump in his shoulders.

"It's just that I kinda...wrecked my notebook." He replied sheepishly before sighing. "I don't have anything to take notes on quirks in anymore."

"Oh..." Uraraka whispered quietly.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Iida said as he adjusted his glasses.

They walked through the doors to U.A. and started down the hall that led to their classroom.

"Don't you have to go somewhere else?" Iida asked when Izuku continued to follow them.

"Yeah, I just need to do something."

"Okay then." Uraraka replied slowly, the suspicion in her voice palpable.

When they made it to the entrance of the classroom, Izuku stopped, taking a deep breath before stepping in. He almost forgot just how _loud _his classmates were. It didn't help that Bakugou was part of the class either.

He waved goodbye to Uraraka and Iida as he tried to discreetly make it over to Aizawa.

"Hey!" He heard Aoyama shout above the noise. "Look! It's Deku!"

The noise immediately ceased and Izuku felt all the attention turn to him. He turned around and smiled.

"Hi guys."

"Dekuuuu! I missed you!" Ashido cried, running up to give him a hug.

All the girls in his class did the same. With the exception of Momo. She just gave him a friendly handshake with a 'glad to see you're doing alright'.

"Where'd you go?" Someone, Izuku wasn't sure who, asked.

"Yeah, where the fuck did you disappear to, you damn nerd? And can we send you back?" Bakugou added, leaning forward on his desk as he narrowed his eyes at Izuku.

"Uh, I went—" He cut himself off.

He couldn't tell them where he went! Then they would ask why and he'd have to tell them he was quirkless and then they would ditc—

No they wouldn't! They were his friends! Well, most of them anyways. And he had to start believing in them more.

Izuku cleared his throat before answering.

"I lost my quirk, so I had—"

"Wait! You _lost _your quirk?" Kirishima gasped.

"Yes. I'm quirkless. So I've been working with Mirio this past week to see if there was a way to reverse it." He explained, before adding on more. "I really wasn't in the greatest state of mind that week, so I'm sorry if I was a jerk to you."

"Oh Deku!" Hagakure cooed. "I'm so sorry you had to go through that! You were never a jerk, either. We were mostly worried about you, right guys?"

The whole class gave murmurs of agreement. Izuku felt his heart swell.

"Well I wasn't worried at all! I thought it was quite nice to be free of his incessant murmuring for once!" Bakugou shouted.

"Don't listen to him." Kirishima whispered. "He was just as worried as the rest of us."

"No I wasn't!"

Izuku smiled. He shouldn't have been worried about telling them at all. Nothing changed. Nobody ditched him. The only one causing problems was himself for believing all the stuff his brain made up.

He was reminded why he came to the room in the first place when his gaze landed on Aizawa.

"Oh, Sensei!" He exclaimed. "I wanted to ask you something."

"And that is?" Came the raspy reply.

"Would it be alright if I transferred to support?"

He watched as Aizawa stilled. It had taken Izuku a while to decide that switching to support would be the best option for him. He'd still be able to see his friends and he would get to analyze quirks the whole day, which was what he was already doing anyways.

"You want to transfer?" Aizawa asked, turning around to face him.

"If it would be possible, yes." Izuku replied, rocking back on his heels as he waited for the reply.

"If that's what you want, sure."

He saw his classmates' shocked expressions and laughed.

"C'mon guys, I can't stay here without a quirk. Besides, I'll only be down the hallway."

He heard the bell ring and jumped. He had to go.

"Well, bye!" He said rushing out the door and off to room 223.

He had to go tell Mirio that he joined support and was going to stop coming to the...meetings? Izuku wasn't exactly sure what to call the time he spent with Mirio.

He arrived at the room to see the door shut. Huh. It was always open before.

"Mirio? Are you there?"

Izuku knocked on the door, surprised when it opened slowly. He poked his head inside. It was dark. Really dark. He flicked on the lights to see Mirio asleep on the ground.

Izuku made his way over to the older boy, careful not to step on any of the papers scattered on the floor. When he reached Mirio, he lightly tapped him on the shoulder.

He jolted awake, eyes droopy as he looked this way and that.

"Izuku? Is that you?" He asked sleepily.

"Yeah. Mirio, I'm right here." Izuku replied, eyes wide. "What were you doing on the ground?"

"I was tired, and I wanted to take a little nap."

Mirio stood up and stretched, yawning as he did so.

"Ready for another day of hard work?" He asked. "I'm sure we'll find something today."

Izuku looked down, threading his hands together.

"H-hey Mirio. Did you ever think that maybe we _won't_ find anything? Maybe this is just a—"

"Don't finish that sentence."

Izuku looked up, shocked.

"W-what?"

"Let's just get started already! We don't have all day." Mirio said brightly as he sat down at the table, ready to sort through more paperwork. "Get over here!"

Izuku didn't like how Mirio was acting. It was strange, and he felt the need to put his guard up. He didn't want to. He wanted to trust the older boy. But he couldn't if he was acting like _that_.

Izuku slowly made his way to the chair next to Mirio, sitting down when he did. He let out a shaky breath as he grabbed a paper, his hands trembling.

"I honestly don't think we're going to find anything. I think it's time we stop and just wait for Eri..." He trailed off as he watched Mirio still.

"Mirio?"

"Don't you get it?" Came Mirio's soft reply.

"Get what?"

"If we give up, it's all over. It's the end."

What? What on earth was he talking about? They would just have to wait until Eri was ready. That was all.

"No it's no—"

"Yes, it is!" Mirio burst out, smacking his hand on the table. "I can't wait for Eri! I'm going to graduate soon! What's going to happen if I don't have my quirk by then?"

Izuku froze. So that was what was keeping Mirio going for so long. He was afraid of a future without his quirk. But what he was doing now wasn't going to help him.

Izuku glanced at him, taking note of the dark bags under his eyes. What he was doing now was hurting himself.

"I can't just give up! What else am I going to do?"

Mirio clenched his fists before grabbing a stack of paper.

"First Amajiki, now you!" He cried, pointing at him. "Both of you gave up so quickly! I can't be around you anymore!"

And with that, Mirio ran out of the room, leaving a trail of paper in his wake.

~o0o~

Nejire closed her eyes as she fantasied about lunch. She had made it through classes and was finally at the best part of the day. The part where you got to eat like there was no tomorrow. She bet that it was everybody's favorite time of day too. Well, maybe not that kid in 1-A with the glasses.

Her fantasies were cut short, however, when she saw Mirio run past her, loose papers flying out behind him. Her instincts told her to run after him, and that's exactly what she did.

Nejire had noticed something was off with Mirio a couple weeks back. She had questioned Amajiki about it, and he too had sensed something strange. But neither of them knew what to do. Amajiki had already tried to talking to Mirio, but he had ignored him. Nejire could only hope that he would listen to her.

She dashed after him, only stopping a few times when a stray paper would hit her in the face. When she finally caught up to him, she found him sitting on a bench outside, the stack of papers he had been carrying cast aside.

Nejire sat next to him. He didn't move or even acknowledge her presence. She watched him silently, waiting for him to say something.

"What are you doing here?" He finally said.

"I wanted to see if you were alright."

"I a—"

"Which you obviously are not." She cut him off, tired of his lies.

They weren't helping anyone. Especially not him.

Mirio sighed, his shoulders sagging.

"Are you here to tell me to give up too?"

"No. I'm here to tell you that you have to stop." Nejire paused for a moment. "There's a difference between giving up, and realizing when it has to end. This obsession isn't healthy."

Mirio stayed silent.

"Look at you!" She cried, throwing her hands out. "Your hair's all messed up, you can barely keep your eyes open, and where on earth did your tie go?"

Mirio hunched his shoulders at the sharpness of her voice. But Nejire didn't care. He needed a wake up call. And if that's what she had to do to wake him up, then so be it.

"You're not acting like the person I befriended all those years ago. I can barely recognize you! Both inside and out! The Mirio I know wouldn't let losing his quirk destroy his resolve to be a hero! He wouldn't be sitting here silently as I yell at him! Who are you? Because you surely aren't him." Nejire yelled at him, hoping to get a reaction.

"You don't know how it feels." Came the mumbled reply.

"What?"

"You don't know how it feels." He repeated louder.

Nejire blinked, taken aback. This wasn't the response she wanted.

"Well?" Mirio asked, glaring at her. "Do you know how it feels to get your quirk ripped away from you? Do you? You have no right to be telling me what I should be feeling!"

Nejire sucked in a breath, her cheeks puffing as she felt a spark of anger burn in her chest.

"Maybe I don't!" She shouted at him, clenching her fists. "But that doesn't give you the right to act like a jerk to me! Like I'm below you!"

Mirio's eyes widened, before a deep set darkness shown within them. Nejire saw his whole figure slump as he turned his face away from her. Did she go too far?

"I'm the one who's below you. I'm quirkless. You're not."

Nejire felt the rage inside her completely disappear as she processed what he said.

"No. Just because you're quirkless doesn't mean you matter any less than me." She replied softly, hoping to get through to him. "Why would you say that?"

Mirio stayed silent.

"Why would you say that!"

Nejire grabbed him roughly by the shoulders, forcing him to look at her.

"Because it's true. You can become a hero." He gulped, his mouth twitching into a small smile. "I'm glad you can. I can't. Do the best for the both of us, would you?"

Nejire felt the rage again, and before she could stop herself, she slapped Mirio on the face. _Hard._

"Shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up!" She cried, tears streaming down her face as she glared at Mirio. "You're lying! You wanted to be a hero the most out of all of us! Just because you're quirkless doesn't mean that you have to give up on that dream! You just have to find a healthy way to pursue it!"

Mirio stared at her, his hand cupping the cheek that she had slapped, which Nejire noticed had started turning red. She stared at her hand, her guilt taking over her anger.

"Ah...Mirio." She hung her head, hunching her shoulders. "I... shouldn't have done that. I'm sorry."

She really did it now. There was no way that Mirio would listen to her now that she smacked him in the face. Their friendship was as good as dead. She shouldn't have done that. Why did she do that? Why, why, why—

"Don't be."

The response was soft and Nejire thought she had imagined it before she felt Mirio pat her on the head. She looked up, expecting to see the defeat that would be in Mirio's eyes.

But what she saw was much more different. He had the same glimmer of passion in his eyes that she remembered when she first met him.

"I've been a total idiot lately. I'm sorry."

"Yeah. You have been." Nejire replied with a small smile. "Though you should be telling that to Amajiki. He was worried sick! Like actually sick. Like, I'm gonna puke in the toilet every day kinda sick."

"You're absolutely right. I'll talk to him tonight." Mirio said with a smile of his own. "I wouldn't let something like losing my quirk stop me from becoming a hero! I didn't let my strange quirk stop me back then, and I won't stop now! I just need to change my path, that's all."

"There's the Mirio I know. Now, let's get to lunch. I won't forgive you if I miss it!"

"I know you won't."

Nejire pushed herself up from the bench and extended her hand towards Mirio. He smiled up at her and took it, and with that she yanked him towards the cafeteria, promising to get him an ice pack for his cheek.

Nejire paused for a second, turning around just in time to see the papers Mirio had carried to the bench fly away in the wind. She felt a small smile tug at her lips.

"Everything alright?" Mirio asked, noticing that she had stopped.

"No." She replied, turning back around to continue their walk to the cafeteria. "It's better than alright."

~o0o~

All Might sat at his desk, staring out the window as he tapped his fingers on the hard wood. He hadn't seen Izuku in a week. He knew that didn't sound long, but for Izuku, that was an extremely long time. The boy had visited him almost every day, but the visits had suddenly stopped a week ago.

And that worried him. Was the kid alright? Was something stopping him from visiting, or did he just decide that he didn't want to talk with him anymore? All Might felt himself frown. He liked Izuku's company. But if Izuku didn't want to visit him anymore, he couldn't force him to.

All Might sighed. Now that he was officially retired, he didn't do much except teach class and sit at his desk. It was pretty boring, if he had to be totally honest. But the talks with Izuku added something to his now mundane lifestyle. At least they did.

It was hard for All Might to sit back and relax as he watched the other heroes around him doing hero stuff. It made him restless. His hands itched as they sat still, doing nothing. He needed to do something. Anything.

He tugged at the collar of his shirt, it was going to take him a while to get used to wearing clothing that was his actual size.

He tapped his fingers on his desk again, staring at the empty room. Now what? All Might spun around in his swivel chair, closing his eyes.

"What to do, what to do." He murmured to himself.

He glanced at the clock. One thirty. He had lots of time to blow. Fantastic.

He hummed to himself as he hopped out of his chair and made his way out of the room. Maybe he could pay 1-A a visit. If Izuku didn't want to visit him, _he_ would just visit the boy instead.

So All Might did just that, making his way to the classroom, a smile on his face when he came across the door. Izuku couldn't ignore him anymore, could he?

He opened the door, immediately greeted by Aizawa's annoyed gaze.

"Why hello class 1-A!" He bellowed, ignoring the sound of Aizawa's sighing in the background.

"All Might!" The class greeted, their faces lighting up at the sight of the retired hero.

He glanced around the room, surprised when he didn't see Izuku's face among them.

"He's not here." Bakugou growled, noticing where All Might was staring. "The damn idiot transferred to support."

All Might felt the smile he was wearing falter.

What? The kid transferred? To support?

But Izuku wanted to be a _hero_. He wanted to be a hero so badly that he had clung onto the hope, even when he was quirkless and beat down. Izuku had reminded All Might of how _he _was back all those years ago. So he couldn't imagine why Izuku would _transfer_ of all things.

"Do you have any idea why young Midoriya would transfer?" He asked hesitantly, worried about what the answer would be.

"Haven't you heard?" Tsuyu piped up, continuing when All Might shook his head. "Deku lost his quirk."

He felt his mouth run dry at the statement. The quirk that was passed down for years upon years, gone? And Izuku lost it?

"Oh. I see." All Might replied after a while, smiling again. "Well, I hope you guys will be good for a few minutes, I'm going to have a little chat with Aizawa."

"Oh?" Aizawa looked at him questioningly .

"When we meet again!" All Might shouted to the class, grasping Aizawa by the arm and yanking him into the hallway.

He closed the door behind him, taking a deep breath.

"Now. Do you want to tell me why I have to learn about young Midoriya's situation from the class, and not by...hmm...I don't know, a teacher?"

All Might watched as Aizawa straightened his posture and stared at him head on. Damn, Aizawa meant business. But so did he.

"I told Uraraka and Iida the day it happened. Y—" Aizawa began, before being cut off by All Might.

"You told them before me! Wouldn't it make more sense to tell me first?"

Aizawa glared at him.

"If you'd let me finish, maybe you'd know."

All Might stayed silent as Aizawa stared at him. He'd just wait it out. He wondered what kind of explanation Aizawa had for leaving him out of the loop. Aizawa should've known that he could talk to Izuku too!

"So anyways, as I was saying. Izuku took a bullet for me. He lost his quirk due to it. I decided to tell his friends because he was extremely distraught at the moment, and I'm pretty sure that you were the last person he wanted to see."

Oh. Izuku was scared. Scared of him. Because he lost One for All. But he had no reason to be! Didn't Izuku know that if he knew the circumstances, he wouldn't be upset? In fact, All Might felt proud. Izuku had sacrificed his quirk in order to help Aizawa. And All Might knew just how much that quirk meant to Izuku. How could he ever be mad at him?

"I'm going to head back." Aizawa said, turning the knob on the door.

"Wait!" All Might burst out, moving so that he was between Aizawa and the door. "Does Nezu know?"

Aizawa sighed, letting go of the door.

"Yes. He said that he trusts me to do the right thing for Izuku's future here."

All Might slid away from the door, allowing Aizawa to open it and go back into the class. As the door opened, All Might could hear the chaos within. Yikes, poor Aizawa had a long year ahead of him, didn't he?

All Might decided that his next best step of action was to go to support and talk with Izuku, to tell him that it was _okay_. He was sure that Izuku wasn't doing well, based on what he heard from Aizawa.

"Don't worry, my boy. You're more of hero now than you ever were before." All Might whispered, making his way down the hall before he realized he had no idea where the support classroom was.

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I'm so sorry that I was late! I was very busy last night and couldn't find the time to upload this chapter; hopefully I made up for it with the length of this one! Anyways, thanks for reading, and have a good rest of your day :)


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